Doha's grocery rejects

Many Doha residents are boycotting products that came from GCC neighbours [Reuters]

Doha, Qatar - Shortly after Saudi Arabia shut Qatar's only land border earlier this month owing to a diplomatic spat between Gulf countries, residents in the Qatari capital flooded supermarkets in search of supplies.

Many stocked up on products from Almarai, a Saudi Arabia-based dairy company and the largest in the Middle East, fearing the blockade's implications for an arid nation that imports 80 percent of its food.

But with countries such as Turkey and Iran stepping in to ensure Qatar's grocery stores remain full, many now can't stomach the idea of consuming milk coming from their Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) neighbours.

"The people are all asking me where the products are from. If I say to them Saudi or Dubai, they don't take," said Ranjit Kumar Pulami, a sales clerk at Al Meera grocery store in Doha.

"I don't buy those products," said Fahad Jassim Al Tamemi, one of many shoppers boycotting products coming from countries beefing with Qatar.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing Doha of supporting "extremism" and shifting too close to Iran - charges Qatar has repeatedly denied.

Restaurant workers say that food items from Saudi and the UAE were ordered removed from their pantries.

In supermarkets, Almarai products sit in piles labelled with discount signs in an effort to get rid of the taboo imports. And residents who stocked up in the early days of the blockade are now regretting the move.

Almarai on sale in Doha supermarkets [Jenna Belhumeur/Al Jazeera]

"Suddenly, we went from people who gave a lot of s*** about having fresh milk in our cappuccinos to us drinking Turkish milk, which does taste weird - let's be honest," said Hessa, 22, a Qatari woman who claims her family and neighbours all threw out the Saudi products they hoarded.